U.S. blacklists 33 Russian entities, sanctions Chinese military

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange trade agreements at a signing ceremony in Beijing on June 8. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The United States government blacklisted nearly three dozen Russian individuals and entities Thursday and penalized a Chinese military department, officials said.

Thirty-three individuals and entities are affected by the blacklist, including billionaire Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin. His companies, Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering, were added to the U.S. State Department's list of Russian military and intelligence operatives, Politico reported.

Any group or individual that conducts "significant transactions" with companies on the blacklist can be subjected to sanctions.

Prigozhin and his Concord companies were accused by special counsel Robert Mueller of funding the Internet Research Agency, which U.S. intelligence authorities say was responsible for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin imposed sanctions on the Chinese military's Equipment Development Department and its director, Li Shangfu, CNN reported.

Thursday's sanctions came after the Beijing military department purchased Su-35 combat aircraft and a S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia.

The State Department said the purpose of the sanctions were to punish Russia for meddling in the election.

"Today's actions are not intended to undermine the military capabilities or combat readiness of any country, but rather to impose costs on Russia in response to its interference in the United States election process, its unacceptable behavior in eastern Ukraine, and other malign activities," the department said.